Issue 2 – Monday 31 July
Youth Parliament: got work to do
Keith Lomax-Thorpe
You might know someone who has been injured or even killed fighting for their rights. You may have been on a protest march. Or you might be wondering how things would be if there were people to vote for who you really felt were worth it.
What difference do these actions make? What can young people do that actually changes things? Sometimes you know you have contributed to change, and it’s a good feeling. Sharing that experience and joining in the change is even better.
The Youth Parliament is concentrating on what action is effective and how we can make things happen. It’s more about how young people can best make changes than about discussing whether meat is better than nuts.
At Global Village a big chunk of young people from across camp with a host of experiences make up our Youth Parliament. We live in different cultures and we don’t do things the same way. From the way we run our kitchens on camp, and organise our youth groups, to our approaches to campaigning… there are surprises for all of us.
It’s one part of the Democracy Centre and runs every day except Saturday. It isn’t the same people every day, although many people will want to see it through to the final declaration on youth empowerment.
Starting with the experiences we all have of trying to change things, we will take a magnifying glass to what we do and start to build up ideas of what really works. Change is not about making yourself feel good, but surely it’s more sustainable if it does!
Then the parliament will decide on its top ten themes around which the debate about effective action will revolve. Global Village is rooted in the millennium goals, but we won’t be stopping there.
Taking these themes or issues the parliament will look closely at action. Maybe one question for debate will be: How do we make youth action effective to get rid of extreme poverty and hunger?
The whole series of debates leads up to the grand finale: the youth parliament and summit and the Youth Parliament Declaration for Empowerment and Action.
And in the village: For just one day each village will have the opportunity to run things differently. There’ll be some ‘choice’ when you open your envelope, and then maybe you’ll suddenly have all the adults doing the cooking or just one person making all the decisions. Maybe all decisions will have to be made by everyone in the village … and they talked for 24 hours….
Your representatives on the Youth Parliament can feed back the experience.
Wanted: 2 to 4 people from every village to come to the Youth Parliament. You can change each day, or some might like to keep coming. You will be welcome. We also need people to translate.